Fellow Nairalanders this is a long read, but What do you think the future holds for these two global power, judging from current events?



HANGZHOU, China — The problems began as soon as President Obama landed in China.
There were no stairs waiting for him to emerge from his usual door at the front of Air Force One.
On the tarmac, as Obama’s staffers scrambled to get lower-level stairs in place for him to disembark, White House press photographers traveling with him tried to get in their usual position to mark his arrival in a foreign country, only to find a member of the Chinese welcoming delegation screaming at them.
He told the White House press corps that they needed to leave.
A White House official tried to intervene, saying, essentially, this is our president and our plane and the media isn’t moving.

The man yelled in response, “This is our country!”
The man then entered into a testy exchange with Obama’s national security adviser, Susan E. Rice, and her deputy, Ben Rhodes, while trying to block them from moving toward the front of the plane.


On what is probably his last visit to China, for a Group of 20 summit here, there were flare-ups and simmering tensions throughout — a fitting reflection of how the relationship between these two world powers has become frayed and fraught with frustration. Over the past seven years, strained ties with China have colored and come to define Obama’s foreign policy in Asia.

On Saturday, several White House protocol officers and other staff members arriving at a diplomatic compound ahead of Obama’s meetings were stopped from entering and had heated arguments with Chinese officials before they could get in.
“The president is arriving here in an hour,” one White House staffer was overheard saying in exasperation.
A fistfight nearly broke out between a Chinese official trying to help the U.S. diplomats and a Chinese security official trying to keep them out. “Calm down, please. Calm down,” another White House official pleaded.


Twenty minutes before the arrival of Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the two sides were still arguing in the room where the two leaders would soon be touting their cooperation. The Chinese insisted that there was not enough space for the 12 American journalists traveling with Obama. U.S. officials insisted that there was, pointing to a spacious area sectioned off for the media and citing arrangements negotiated long in advance.
For all the skirmishes, in the days leading up to the trip, White House officials gave a much rosier depiction of the U.S.-China relationship, talking up mutual efforts such as a deal to address climate change.


But in so many other areas, the world’s two largest economic powers have failed to bridge increasing hostilities and in¬trac¬table disputes over maritime issues, cybersecurity, trade and human rights. The yelling and screaming Saturday in many ways illustrated just how differently both sides view their roles — and how little has changed since Obama’s troubled first visit in 2009.


High hopes turn to pivot
Obama began with high hopes of improving U.S.-China relations. In 2009, he tried reaching out to Chinese leaders with offers of increased engagement. He decided not to meet with the Dalai Lama to avoid angering Beijing, to the disappointment of human rights advocates. Obama became the first U.S. president to visit China during his first year in office. But his administration was taken aback by how completely the Chinese controlled all aspects of that visit.
“He wasn’t allowed to say much at all,” said Orville Schell, a longtime China scholar who was in China during the visit. “The Chinese kept him from meeting certain people, from taking questions or even radio broadcasts. He didn’t know quite how to respond. He didn’t want to be impolite. It took the U.S. a while to understand that this was the direction China and the relationship was headed.”
Some have blamed Obama for adopting such an overly optimistic and open stance during those early years. For all his outreach, current and former top U.S. diplomats say, Obama got little in return, except the feeling of being burned by Beijing.
But that could be equally attributed to the simple fact that China itself was undergoing a seismic shift during the early years of Obama’s presidency.
When the global recession plunged the world into financial crisis in the late 2000s, China escaped unscathed. Its leaders looked around and realized for the first time just how much power China had achieved in ¬becoming the world’s second-largest economy. Shortly there¬after, they began eagerly throwing that weight around.



No longer were they willing to make concessions or bide their time — on big things, such as territorial claims, and on smaller ones, such as the nitty-gritty of negotiations over who sits where and says what during diplomatic exchanges.
Obama’s response to this newfound Chinese assertiveness was largely a response to reality. “In a textbook, it would be great to have a strategic vision for how you see things being eight years from now,” said Jeffrey A. Bader, Obama’s top Asia adviser during those early years. “But in this case, I think the word ‘reaction’ is right. You had a China that was changing in capacity and leadership.”
If the carrot of engagement didn’t work, Obama administration officials decided, they would try the stick. And they gave this tougher policy a name: the “pivot to Asia.”
The pivot boiled down to the idea of rebalancing U.S. ¬foreign-policy attention from the Middle East to Asia — an area that will have clear long-term strategic importance in coming years.
Those overseeing the pivot strategy, senior U.S. officials said at the time, had studied examples in history when one power was rising while others were declining: Germany’s rise in Europe after World War I; Athens and Sparta; the rise of the United States in the 20th century.
Out of those studies, they developed a belief that China would respond best to a position of strength. To find that leverage, the United States planned to forge stronger ties with its traditional allies in Asia and pick up new allies among neighbors alienated by China’s new aggression — including Vietnam, Burma and India.
Using that multilateral approach, the thinking went, the United States could offset China’s rising military power and assertiveness.
Doubts among allies
The main problem with the Asia pivot was one of perception and substance.
European and Middle Eastern leaders expressed concern at the idea of U.S. attention and priorities suddenly shifting from their regions to another. Chinese leaders saw the pivot as a U.S. conspiracy to interfere with China’s goals and to slow its rise.




Meanwhile, the very Asian allies the pivot was meant to reassure had their doubts as well. Many wondered how much of the pivot was empty rhetoric and how much it would be backed by economic and military substance.
In recent months, those doubts have resurfaced because the ¬Trans-Pacific Partnership — a multinational trade agreement with Asian allies that Obama hopes to enact this year — may die for lack of support in Congress and frompresidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, in the years since the pivot strategy began, the U.S.-China relationship has soured.
Both countries are trying to avoid open hostility but are increasingly wary and frustrated with each other.
When asked about the skirmishes on this trip on Sunday, Obama said, “we don’t make apologies for pushing when it comes to press access.” But he added, some of the misunderstandings may just be due to the complicated logistics of hosting a G20 summit.
The U.S.-China relationship may be the biggest problem Obama’s successor will face in Asia. Other countries in the region continue to fear China’s rise but are not fully convinced that the United States will be a sufficient counterweight. How the next president deals with China — the exact proportion of carrots and sticks chosen and the Chinese response to that — will probably define the region in the decade to come.
If this visit by Obama is any indication, the situation is unlikely to improve anytime soon.
On Saturday, even as the two presidents finished their talk and prepared for a nighttime stroll toward Obama’s motorcade, Chinese officials suddenly cut the number of U.S. journalists who could cover them from six to three, and finally to one.
“That is our arrangement,” a Chinese official flatly told a White House staffer, looking away.
“But your arrangement keeps changing,” the White House staffer responded.
In the end, after lengthy and infuriating negotiations, they settled on having just two journalists witness the leaders’ walk.
Neither side was happy with the compromise.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/obamas-china-visit-gets-off-to-rocky-start/2016/09/03/a188b2c6-71df-11e6-b786-19d0cb1ed06c_story.html

Obi can never remain a boy forever. After all, Who America don epp if not to supply arms and ammunitions?

AND WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO ABOUT THIS SENSELESS NEWS

Trusting USA with ur economy is like giving ur enemy a gun to protect you. America is working seriously against any nation that have potential of being great because they never knew that China can suddenly assume a power to contend with.
America knows that if Nigeria get it right then Africa is liberated.
It is better for Nigeria to have an industrial and technological pact with China than with America.

Flyingngel:
Trusting USA with ur economy is like giving ur enemy a gun to protect you. America is working seriously against any nation that have potential of being great because they never knew that China can suddenly assume a power to contend with.
America knows that if Nigeria get it right then Africa is liberated.
It is better for Nigeria to have an industrial and technological pact with China than with America.

Don't forget that China is a one party cum dictatorial state.... Don't you think it will be better we evolve and chart our own course than involving this two global giants.

It is also obvious from the turn of event that China may soon beat the USA in their game. They seem to control the tune and direction of event

[quote author=blues20 post=49066893]

Don't forget that China is a one party cum dictatorial state.... Don't you think it will be better we evolve and chart our own course than involving this two global giants.

It is also obvious from the turn of event that China may soon beat the USA in their game. They seem to control the tune and direction of event.






I agree with u but we can't develop fast without exchange of technological ideas which we lack. I.e manufacturing of heavy duty machines.

[quote author=Flyingngel post=49070156][/quote]
There are other smaller countries that we can exchange technology with that will not pose a threat nor dictate for us.... i.e. countries like Germany, Israel, or even India. However, we need to solve our long political stalemate before we can go forward.

With what I'm seeing, China may soon replace the USA as a global Super-power. This is my opinion anyway.

[quote author=Flyingngel post=49070156][/quote]

There are other smaller countries that we can exchange technology with that will not pose a threat nor dictate for us.... i.e. countries like Germany, Israel, or even India. However, we need to solve our long political stalemate before we can go forward.

With what I'm seeing, China may soon replace the USA as a global Super-power. This is my opinion anyway.

blues20:

There are other smaller countries that we can exchange technology with that will not pose a threat nor dictate for us.... i.e. countries like Germany, Israel, or even India. However, we need to solve our long political stalemate before we can go forward.

With what I'm seeing, China may soon replace the USA as a global Super-power. This is my opinion anyway.

wich de usa hv dem in their pocket, i dont knw 4 india though

biggerj:


wich de usa hv dem in their pocket, i dont knw 4 india though

India is Pro East, is you look at their weapons arsenal they have more eastern weapons than western

Thou am always been attacked for my love for the Asian nations. But lets remember wat our own brother Mugabe said- LETS TURN OUR FACE TO THE EAST WHERE THE SUN RISE AND OUR BACK TO THE WEST WHERE THE SUN SET.

I know u all might think why should we hear the word of such a bad, bla bla bla and bla person, but let us nt forget this that we know that the USA overtime does not help without destroying or causing more harm dan was b4. An example is Libya they helped in killing Gadaffi who was the saviour of Libya thou he wanted to rule 4 ever. Gadaffi made Libya who they are 2da created irrigation to help agriculture in their desert but after intervention of USA their hunger now na ×5. Thou their are positive sides but the negative outweighs it.

China as we know is a country driven by economics and portrays a foreign policy of neutrality and ensuring global peace. If Nigeria can can improve economic ties with china our country will tend to develop faster dan it has eva. Our fellow African country south Africa which is often used to insult us have a cordial relationship with China and they are improving their economy today. China as a country isn't after becoming the number 1 nation of the world like US that why they prefer to be regarded as underdeveloped nation despite the capabilities we know they posses.

welzyj2:
Thou am always been attacked for my love for the Asian nations. But lets remember wat our own brother Mugabe said- LETS TURN OUR FACE TO THE EAST WHERE THE SUN RISE AND OUR BACK TO THE WEST WHERE THE SUN SET.

I know u all might think why should we hear the word of such a bad, bla bla bla and bla person, but let us nt forget this that we know that the USA overtime does not help without destroying or causing more harm dan was b4. An example is Libya they helped in killing Gadaffi who was the saviour of Libya thou he wanted to rule 4 ever. Gadaffi made Libya who they are 2da created irrigation to help agriculture in their desert but after intervention of USA their hunger now na ×5. Thou their are positive sides but the negative outweighs it.

China as we know is a country driven by economics and portrays a foreign policy of neutrality and ensuring global peace. If Nigeria can can improve economic ties with china our country will tend to develop faster dan it has eva. Our fellow African country south Africa which is often used to insult us have a cordial relationship with China and they are improving their economy today. China as a country isn't after becoming the number 1 nation of the world like US that why they prefer to be regarded as underdeveloped nation despite the capabilities we know they posses.

You are correct to some extent.... don't forget that everything has its pros and cons... foreign policies change over time.... The Chinese have the tendency of sucking their weaker partner dry, i.e. The case of Uganda comes to play. Their internal working order toward locals is usually very harsh, e.g. low pay and unhealthy working condition, etc. Every country will always strive to protect its vested interest, irrespective of the camouflage.
What Nigeria needs, is strong political cum economic structure that will give it an advantage in any negotiation, and this can only be possible if we re-structure our political system to favor every region. My take though.